You missed my point.  Instead of saying,

        "WHY does the college require a computer?",

it would have been clearer if had I said,

    "What is this computer going to be used for?",

which is what I meant.  "For what activities does this
college expect you to use this computer."

There are many reasons, of course, why you might want and/or
need a computer at a college.   However, "what kind of
computer (desktop or laptop)?" and "how powerful a computer?"
are questions whose answers depend on the intended uses
of that computer.  I would think that an Engineering major, for
example, could effectively use a far more powerful computer than
an English major might need.  Whereas the English student may
want a laptop for taking notes in class, which the Engineering student
would not be as likely to do.  (Their notes would have symbols and
equations that would be difficult to enter at speed.)  This could
significantly affect the amount of money one would spend for the computer.

Anybody who builds or upgrades a computer needs to ask
themself what their requirements are in order to make a
cost-conscious decision on the ingredients.

Dean Kukral  [log in to unmask]


-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Meagher <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Friday, July 23, 1999 3:37 PM
Subject: Re: [PCBUILD] College computer for freshman


>----- Original Message -----
>From: Dean Kukral <[log in to unmask]>
>>
>> The question is WHY does the college require a computer??
>>
>
>Our students are encouraged to have a PC, but there is no REQUIREMENT.
>However, just off the top of my head, I can think of several
advantages.....
>
>Professors can help more students in less time via e-mail than the
>"tradititional" office visit.
>
>Many courses include extra reading material which is available to
everyone -
>at the same time-  via internet as opposed to waiting/hoping for someone to
>return one of the 3 or 4 printed copies available from the library.
>
>Net Meeting type software lets students work on collaborative efforts more
>productively and efficiently.
>
>And there a quite a few colleges that already offer some classes/lectures
>via the inter/intra net.
>

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